I did quite a bit of reading yesterday (British time) and I want to share some of the highlights (and lowlights) with you.

On the British news scene, everyone seemed to have new and different revelations, all from unnamed sources, and all presented in a manner which (if you'll pardon my French) exuded an aroma reminiscent of a seafood market.BBC: Terror detectives 'find bomb kit'

Police probing an alleged plot to bring down flights have found a suitcase containing items which could be used to construct a bomb, the BBC has learned.

Officers have been searching a piece of land called King's Wood in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

A police source told the BBC the case contained "everything you would need to make an improvised device".

Other officers have confirmed only that a suitcase was found. Scotland Yard has not officially commented on any finds.

Personally I cannot imagine a terror investigator searching the woods near the place where one or more suspects lived, and coming out with a suitcase full of bomb-making materials, unless one --- or maybe even all --- of the suspects were personally responsible for the contents and location of that suitcase. Can you?

I mean, these investigators are not under any pressure to find anything, are they?

The latest investigations by Pakistan also indicate that a British national arrested in Pakistan, Rashid Rauf, was the planner of the attacks who recruited people to take part in the plot, the official said.

"We have reason to believe that it was al Qaida-sanctioned and was probably cleared by al-Zawahri."

Oooh! That's a good one, isn't it? So good, it travelled all the way across the ocean in almost no time at all!

A Briton identified by Pakistan as a key suspect in the London airliner terror plot has links with an outlawed Pakistani militant group, and interrogations of those in custody indicate al Qaeda's leadership sanctioned the foiled plan, intelligence officials said Thursday.

Questioning of some of the up to 17 suspects detained in Pakistan over the alleged plot revealed that al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri likely approved the plan to blow up passenger jets flying from London to the United States, a senior Pakistani intelligence official told The Associated Press.

I definitely cannot imagine a senior Pakistani intelligence official telling a little white lie. Can you?

Certainly not one decked out in fine raiment such as "probably" and "likely".

And neither can you. Right??

In my opinion, some of the reaction has been predictable, understandable, even inevitable.

Almost every day now we are all compelled to engage in a debate about the compatibility of Islamic and British values, whether it is possible for the two to co-exist or whether loyalty to one set must signal the death knell of the other.

There are some values which cross the Islam-West divide, a crossing which signifies their importance in terms of human values. One of these common values is the presumption of innocence; that no individual shall be considered guilty until convicted in a court of law.

So fundamental is this right to the administration of criminal law that it has been explicitly stated in almost every legal code and constitution around the world from as far back as Ancient Greece, as well as being laid down in the Shari’ah and the Old Testament.

Despite its foundational value to a fair and honourable criminal justice system, the presumption of innocence has been suspended throughout the course of the ‘War on Terror’, and most recently in the current coverage of the alleged transatlantic bomb plot.

Even now, not one of the 24 individuals arrested on suspicion of involvement in the plot has been charged with any offence whatsoever. In fact, one man has been released without charge. Only time will tell whether there is any substantial evidence to charge, try and convict the remaining 23.

This is an excellent essay in my slightly frozen opinion and I wish you would read it all.

One of the significant contributions to the "war on terror" by Britain's home secretary David Blunkett before his abrupt departure from the Tony Blair cabinet last year was his statement on terrorism in the House of Commons that specifically flagged the possibility of a "dirty bomb" being planted in Britain by terrorists.

That was in November 2002, when preparations were already in an advanced stage for the march to Baghdad. We are still waiting for the dirty bomb and its lethal radiation.

That was a "significant contribution indeed", don't you think?

Reports have appeared that the British security agencies were feeling increasingly uncomfortable that their American counterparts rushed to make out that the alleged plot was linked to al-Qaeda. More importantly, it appears that sources in London have begun distancing themselves from the plot by claiming that the British side was pressured from Washington to go public with the plot despite a lack of evidence and clear and convincing facts whether any conspiracy in fact existed at all.

Not surprisingly, the loudest voices of skepticism about the alleged plot are heard in Pakistan, where of course the public is habitually cynical over anything that goes to the credit of the establishment.

No kidding? Why don't they tell us these things?

[I]t is extraordinary that the mainstream media in the US could so willingly suspend their disbelief over the patchy official claims that the plot was a "real idea" of cosmic significance. Furthermore, they dutifully ran "expert opinions" by commentators on the alleged plotters' al-Qaeda connections. Not a single mainstream newspaper in the US challenged the plot theory as such - leave alone pointed out the patent gulf between the London plotters' ambition and their ability to pull it off.

Bhadrakumar goes on to share his thoughts about the recent bombing in India and its relation to al-Qaeda, or lack of same. I want you to read this whole essay, too.

In the week since British police conducted a major counterterrorism operation against an alleged plot to blow up airline flights between Britain and the US, a series of false alarms has shown how tense people have become about the threat of a terrorist attack in America. While all of the events were originally described [as], or considered, possible terrorist activities, none of them has been shown to have any connection with terrorism.

You know what? I noticed that, too!

Seattle authorities evacuated dozens of workers and set up a half-mile perimeter around part of the city's port, after two sniffer dogs seemed to indicate that a container from Pakistan might contain explosives.
...
A bomb squad that searched the containers found nothing dangerous.
...
Also on Wednesday, a woman's odd behavior on a transtlantic flight from London to Dulles airport in Washington D.C. caused the pilot to make an emergency landing in Boston, accompanied by US Air Force jets. The woman was arrested, the passengers interrogated and their luggage searched. The Boston Globe reports that early media accounts on cable news channels, based on information from law enforcement officials, said the woman had a note mentioning Al Qaeda. This turned out to be false.
...
[T]he local prosecutor in Caro, Mich. reluctantly dropped terrorism charges against three Palestinian-Americans from Texas. Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene had filed the charges against the men after they had bought dozens of cell phones at a Wal-Mart in Caro last Friday.

When the Texans were originally arrested, Mr. Reene said they had been targeting the Mackinac Bridge because they had pictures of it on their digital camera. On Monday, the FBI and state officials said the men had no relation to any terrorist group or terrorist activity, and that the photos on the camera came from "apparently wide-eyed tourists rather than would-be terrorists."
...
Instead, Maruan Muhareb, 18, Adham Othman, 21, and Louai Othman, 23, all of Mesquite, Texas, now face federal charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud by trafficking in counterfeit goods. They were arraigned on the new charges Wednesday in US District Court in Bay City, following a brief hearing in Caro at which a judge dismissed the state charges. The conspiracy charge is punishable by up to five years in prison. Money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

There's plenty of jurisdictional nonsense going on as you will see if you read the entire article.

This is a man-in-the-street interview-type piece, and there's some women-in-the-street too, but that's an awkward phrase, don't you think?

American visitors to the capital say [... ] they are bewildered by the sceptical reaction of some Britons to what they see as a war.

"We've been looking at your museums," says John LeClaire, from Boston, holidaying with family and friends. "In the first world war there's this blindly patriotic joining of this war that is in a sense pointless. In the second world war there is uniform support for the government once Chamberlain is got rid of. Now you have, what, about 20% of the people who think terror plots are a conspiracy? That's an extraordinary evolution."

Notice the wording here, friends. Our Bostonian friend in London tumbles upon two politically charged words in the same breath: "conspiracy" and "evolution". Odd, no?

Heck! That's nothing. Check the next paragraph.

I hereby award the First Ever Winter Patriot Prize for Orwellian Double-Speak to another Bostonian:

"It didn't cross my mind that this was a conspiracy," says Dogan Arthur, also from Boston. "It would show that terrorism is working if people think it's a conspiracy."

That's still my emphasis, by the way. An extraordinary statement such as this one doesn't come along every day (praise the will of Allah!) and certainly deserves extraordinary highlighting.

What's so strange is that the vast majority of other people interviewed for this article just don't buy it.

In my opinion it is a cover-up because of what's going on in Lebanon," says Munir Khan. "When you turn on the TV you see innocent people getting killed. This [plot] distracts from that."

A moderate Muslim who has been a member of the Labour party for nearly 20 years, Khan quit about eight months ago to join the Lib Dems. He does not trust the evidence coming out of Pakistan in relation to this latest alleged terror plot. "The Pakistan government will say anything for money," he says. "If the UK government gives them money to say something, they will say it."

Hmmm, a "moderate Muslim" ... there's a phrase we don't hear too often on this side of the ocean.

Well, who else is there?

Scepticism about the plot is shared by many in the area and not just by Muslims, says Qurban Hussain, a local resident and the deputy leader of Luton borough council. "People are definitely sceptical. They are not sure whether these claims are just to clamp down on British Muslims. Is it scaremongering tactics by the government or another reason to harass more innocent people?

"It's a perception held by a lot of my constituents of all backgrounds. When you look back on the WMD, the information was wrong. Then we have the case of Jean Charles de Menezes. We picked up the wrong person altogether. Then the raid in Forest Gate in which a man was shot. There are so many cases people can refer to. It makes them feel they cannot trust the government."

Hmmm... cannot trust the government. You don't say?

Jerry Thornton, from Wiltshire, is with the tourists outside Downing Street. "There is so much we don't know. It [the government] is such a secretive organisation. They are all colluding together. Some of it's for our own protection, but I believe a lot of it is spin. I accept during the investigation they can't tell the whole truth but we'd like to know exactly what happened and how it was foiled."

We'd like to know exactly what happened about a lot of things, Jerry.

John Jeffreys is unsure whether he trusts the government's line. "It's difficult to know. A lot of these terror alerts seem to coincide with an announcement about ID cards for instance. This time there obviously was some sort of plot but we don't know how significant it was. I don't trust the government at all. There's no doubt that Blair lied about the weapons of mass destruction before Iraq."

Muslim voters say they are also angered by the government's - and George Bush's - use of the term "Islamic terrorism". "Why Islamic? Look at Northern Ireland. Who was saying 'Christians' there?" says Khan.

By chance an Irish family on holiday from Belfast pull into the services on the M1 while I'm there. "This [plot] could be make-believe, so the government can say, 'Look what we're doing to fight the terrorists,'" says Joanne Burrows. "There must have been something to arrest 23 people, but plenty of people have done time in Northern Ireland for doing nothing".

So I said to myself: "O Frozen One, it does appear that the people of Great Britain are much smarter than their American counterparts, and this might be a very good thing!"

Feeling all hopeful was I when I found the following extraordinary headline:

"Eighty percent of Britons," said I. "Four out of five want to ditch the US. How extraordinary!"

According to the article, it's even more extraordinary than the headline.

[T]he survey exposed deep-seated distrust of the foreign policies championed by Mr Bush since September 11, 2001. Only 14 per cent believed Britain should continue to align itself with America.

They're getting it! They're getting it! Or are they?

Well ... NO! Apparently not!

Seventy three per cent agreed that "the West is in a global war against Islamic terrorists who threaten our way of life".

When asked whether Britain should change its foreign policy in response to terrorism only 12 per cent said it should be more conciliatory, compared with 53 per cent who thought it should become more "aggressive" and 24 per who wanted no change.

People were divided about the Muslim community in Britain. Fifty per cent said "most British Muslims are moderate" while 28 per cent disagreed with the statement and 22 per cent did not know.

I still don't get this. The Brits are apparently more sceptical than Americans, by and large, and apparently they think the Bush/USA approach to terror is more or less what the Deputy Prime Minister says he didn't say, and yet they believe all the other lies! And they seem content to live with them, too!

Some 60 per cent of people thought the war on terrorism would continue for at least 10 years, with 44 per cent of these thinking it would still be going on in 20 years' time.

What to make of this? They see the light but they prefer the darkness? It rains too much and their brains have all gone mouldy? They're suffering side-effects from having to call soccer "football" and gasoline "petrol"? There's something in their warm dark beer that makes them psychotic? Their "embattled island" mentality insists on living forever? Or am I missing something?

Thanks for that summary. I've sure been wondering about all this "terrorist plot" stuff since it came down...
Sure seems to me that our Bushies would prefer us to not think about our nation going to hell and thinking about

Excellent post WP, love your snark - and thanks for reminding me that I need to get my "Dark Side of the Moon" CD back from my kid *L*

On a tangent (OFF TOPIC ALERT!!), just to show you that even those of us who consider ourselves pretty much unflappable are being affected by the constant attempts to keep us in fear...

Yesterday morning on my blog I posted a LONG diatribe about the reasons I think the timing of the British Airways incident was not a coincidence, a link to a 2005 Keith Olberman piece comparing events that coincided with the raising of terror levels in the US, and then listed some of the things that just don't make sense to me (For instance, why would people line up to pour all of their liquids into a single container if the alleged 'threat' involved mixing chemicals to create an explosive? And why are passengers drinking baby formula to prove it's not an explosive, but being forced to dump their mocha lattes?). I hit preview, the text was there, hit submit, and after a minute it all just disappeared. Ooookay, hmmmmm...

Lacking time and inclination to type it in again at that time, I decided to instead write a short comment about how the tactics being used by the US government to sensor dissidents have come to resemble tactics used in Soviet Russia. I then mirrored the Christopher Bollyn arrest story (so it won't go down the memory hole).

I posted it, confirmed that the story was there, then went to read another blog on the list, tried to come back to mine, and started getting error messages. Now here's the message I get when I try to access my blog:

"Our ISP is experiencing technical issues with their database server. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. Admin"DOCKWAVE BLOGS

Their server has always been kinda shaky. I wouldn't think much of it, except that not long ago I posted another piece pointing to the video titled "How To Hack A Diebold Voting Machine", and that one, too, disappeared. I posted it again, confirmed it was there, then oddly enough, the original copy reappeared - BUT FARTHER DOWN THE LIST, BEFORE an older post (the blog automatically puts newest posts at the top) How the hell did that happen?

(And yes, I do intend to ask the owners, but they're not good at responding - I need to move my blog, suggestions are welcome)

I've been reading posts from other bloggers at other sites who checked their logs and found out they've been accessed by IP addresses that belong to someone at the Department of Defense. And we all know how nosy the NSA is when it comes to those of us who don't support this war or this President, and who are trying to take away the GOP's only way of 'winning' elections. Then I remembered Senator Graham's chilling comment to Alberto Gonzales, regarding Americans who disagree with the President - "The administration has not only the right, but the duty, in my opinion, to pursue Fifth Column movements." Then he said that in his opinion, that doesn't require a warrant.

I'm feeling foolish to even consider anything nefarious is going on, but then I keep remembering the old poster from the 70's...

I am now living in Cairo, working with other American expats...they all know the fix is in. My wife's been cautioning me to zip my lip because Egypt ain't exactly the pillar of democracy. But everyone here knows where the bullshit lies, Egyptians and Americans alike.

I've been out of the loop for a few weeks with this transatlantic relocation thing, so I don't know if this has been posted, Paul Craig Roberts short essay, titled Gullible Americans:

Dr. Roberts, former Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal and a former Contributing Editor of National Review, was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Reagan administration.

I DON'T BELIEVE ANY OF THIS SH*T COMING OUT OF ANYWHERE,THIS IS ALL PROPAGANDA TO SCARE THE SHEEPLE INTO SUBMISSION,AGAIN!!WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP THE FIGHT FOR THE TRUTH,LET'S ALL TAKE TO THE STREETS AND LET THEM KNOW WHERE WE STAND!!THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE IS WORKING OVERTIME,THANK GOD FOR KEITH OLBERMAN,JON STEWART,STEVE COLBERT AND ALL THE OTHER REAL PATRIOTS,WHO HAVEN'T BEEN BRAINWASHED!!I'M GOING BACK TO DC IN SEPT.,AND CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO CAMP DEMOCRACY,PLEASE COME AND JOIN US,IF YOU CAN!
THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE,IF WE NEVER GIVE IN,
Peace

There is this story serving as backbeat to another one: Iran and potential warfare there. Sy Hersh told us months ago that the Pentagon was seriously planning an attack and that this month was the likely time. While the "negotations" over atomic weapons was the original excuse to ratchet up our attention upon Iran, the European communiy seemed to have stifled the effort. But look at the news today: USA Today reports an Iranian shipment of missles to Hezbollah was "thwarted" by US Intelligence early in the Lebannon-Israel incursion and the Guardian reports Turkey is thinking about attacking Kurds in Northern Iraq with Iran's help. We suddenly have reported 3 reason for BushCo to resurrect Iran as a target: atom bombs, terrorizing Israel and intervening in a big way against the only (oil rich) allies we have in Iraq.

Tell me this is a coincidence. I already know it is inept foreign policy.

How conveniant - "A police source told the BBC the case contained "everything you would need to make an improvised device"." left in the woods by "alleged conspirators ... too 'inexperienced' to carry it out."

Ya sure - and I've got a bridge to sell you - goes from Los Angeles to Maui.

Oh - speaking of bridges - I've got some nice pictures of the Golden Gate bridge on my computer. I guess I'd better delete them and write ones and zeros over those sectors about forty times. And burn the slides too!

In fact I'd better go through my colletion of pictures from from Webshots. I think there's lots of bridge and national monument pictures in there. Even some of the Taj Mahal

I guess Turkey and Iran are no longer states anymore, and are simply "turrisssssssstssss":

Turkey and Iran have dispatched tanks, artillery and thousands of troops to their frontiers with Iraq during the past few weeks in what appears to be a coordinated effort to disrupt the activities of Kurdish rebel bases.

Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory.

and KBE again: when I first started blogging I had, like, zero readers, and it took me a while before I got a hit counter, and by the time I did, I had, like, one or two readers, so I really hadn't missed anything, you know? But then when I got the hit counter installed I started paying attention to the logs and every now and then I'd see a military address among the visitors and the first few times that it happened I was sorta spooked ... but eventually it got kind of mundane; first I noticed that they always showed up at 8:00 in the morning exactly, as if they were punching a clock or something, and later I noticed that they had slowed down and eventually they stopped coming 'round to see me at all anymore ... awww ... but it really wasn't all that sad, you know, because by then I had, like, three readers, so I didn't really miss my military friends too much ... well, to make a long story short, eventually I got to the point where I had, like, four or maybe even five readers, and I was getting so many hits every day that I couldn't count them all without taking off my shoes and socks ... and you know I'm cold all the time anyway, so, I, like, really didn't want to do that, and eventually instead I got rid of the hit counter ... so I don't have any logs anymore and I don't know if any of my military friends have come back to see me at 8:00 in the morning, but I hope they still read me, once in a while anyway, because I think they could learn things that way ... things that they might not be able to learn any other way ... being in the military and all ... and even though I was really, like, critical of their bosses, they never really, like, messed anything up on me ... So I would tend to suspect other problems --- with your server, maybe ... we can't be paranoid all the time, can we?

Another great post by the frozen one! Keep shining the light on these things, because not everyone sees through the BS. I'm reminded of an e-mail Clint Curtis sent me the other day. He said, "All we can do is slowly chip away at the rock. Keep chipping!"

Peg C - Thanks, that's one I've been considering, with just a pointer at my old blog to help my own "2 or 3" or "6 or 7" readers find their way there. (I really hoped to see the counter like, make it to like, 10,000 total before I like, bailed, and I'm only up to like, almost 8,000 hits - oh no, I think I've got like, WINTER PATRIOT VALLEY SYNDROME!! *L*)

Yeah, I know, I know, sometimes the MIB are really just businessmen in suits and sunglasses *grinz* and like I said, the server there has always been relatively unstable. And I do know that some of the readers on my old discussion board were military guys, and yeah, I'm kinda hoping they're still keeping up with me after all this time. And I also know that the owners of the blog are mostly Bushites, some of whom are quite easily spooled up, and I've been known to poke 'em with a stick once or twice just for fun - who knows, maybe they got tired of my rants. And I know I'm relatively insignificant and an infinitesimally small cog in a huge and constantly evolving machine (or one of the squeekiest little wheels you'll ever meet, depending upon who you talk to). I have no delusions of importance.

And logic tells me that the clicking I hear on the phone line is just the neighbor's electric fence causing interference (even though some of the homeschoolers, particularly the Friends (Quakers) swear they've been spied upon because of their anti-war activities)..and that the people taking pictures at the peace rallies are most likely just preserving the moments for posterity (even though more than one member of Veterans for Peace has told me that the government keeps a close eye on vets who are involved in the anti-war movement).

But if I get disappeared..will somebody please water the roses and jasmine? Thanks.

None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not even have passports, which given the efficiency of the UK Passport Agency would mean they couldn't be a plane bomber for quite some time.

In the absence of bombs and airline tickets, and in many cases passports, it could be pretty difficult to convince a jury beyond reasonable doubt that individuals intended to go through with suicide bombings, whatever rash stuff they may have bragged in internet chat rooms.

What is more, many of those arrested had been under surveillance for over a year - like thousands of other British Muslims. And not just Muslims. Like me. Nothing from that surveillance had indicated the need for early arrests.

Hi again KBE: Our phone never clicks and I think it's because we don't have an electric fence. We have an acoustic fence. They're a lot quieter. This is knowledge I picked up during all the years I "wasted" playing different kinds of guitars. Electric stuff is always noisier.

I'm just kidding about that, of course, but I was serious about the other stuff. I really don't think they mess with our blogs. They've got other more important things to do. Like takin' our pictures, you know?

I think we should all start protesting wearing Halloween masks --- full-face masks with the most scariest faces of our time on 'em, faces like Bush and Bush, Rove and Cheney. Perle and Wolfowitz. Hannity and O'Reilly. Lieberman! Coulter!! You get the idea, right?

Then the "pentagon papparazzi" could come out and take "our" pictures all they like. I wouldn't even mind if they decided to follow "us" around for days or weeks after the protest, and I think it would be great if they eventually decided to arrest "us" ... based on the pictures, of course!

I think they should just come on down to Pennsylvania Avenue and make the first arrests right now! They should put "us" away for a long time, too! "We" deserve it!

"I think we should all start protesting wearing Halloween masks — full-face masks with the most scariest faces of our time"

I've got this great mask of Nixon. I had to stop wearing it when I answered the door for the trick-or-treaters.
It made all the kids cry!
I wore it to a haloween party - everyone else was dressed as ghosts and witches etc. Some were very gory - all the kids laughed and ran around in glee with those characters. When I came in with the Nixon mask they all ran and hid. Kids know what's going on!

Speaking of Eisenhower, if you haven't seen Eugene Jarecki's Why We Fight it really is a must see. Military industrial complex, now coupled with corrupt politicians and corporate media...

In Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Perkins asks the question about the innocence of the American people - not the "do they know the details or not" innocence, but the gut feeling that we in the US (and other industrialized nations who are our allies in this corporate hegemony) have so much because we are raping the rest of the world, and in this that our majority silence is complicity and guilt. This is the question/concept that the majority public simply turns their head at and says "not my problem, I just play the cards I'm dealt and try to get by in my life", a response I've heard from all too many people.

You said "I really don't think they mess with our blogs." (read this).

I remember our discussion about Mike a year or so ago. He was the first I know of to detail the demolition of the WTC's.

His blog was infiltrated. It is not a matter of if but a matter of when.

Like a competent network admin you must not think you will not be hacked, but you must instead focus on how you will detect it. It will happen. Even the NSA's network and computers were hacked ... but they refused to believe it ... until ... (The Cuckoo's Egg)...

G'morning Dredd: I think you misunderstood me --- my bad! I wasn't clear ... Sorry to do that to you again! ;-0

I was just talking about Kestrel's blog and mine. And I didn't mean to imply that they couldn't, or wouldn't, mess with us --- just that we're so low under the radar it's not worth their effort. Really; here I am, an anonymous blogger with like 4 or 5 readers --- why would they devote their limited resources to pestering me?

Mike Ruppert, as you have pointed out previously, is a different matter entirely. He works under his own name, he not only blogs but also writes books and does public presentations and so on, he's been on their radar screens for 30 years --- and it's no surprise that they've messed with him --- but I'm not Mike! not even remotely in the same league! and that was the main point I was trying to make.

Mike Ruppert, Christopher Bollyn, they mess with. Me, they don't bother with. Besides, I'm hiding under all this ice and snow so it would be a real hassle for them just to come 'round and visit me. ;-0

Peg C #14
Thanks so much for the Ruppert link. I strongly considered Venezuela as a first option for relocation, for the same reasons Mike states in his letter. Unfortunately the work wasn't there, and I have a family to support (well, that was a bit chauvinistic...my wife and I have a family to support.) Anyway, I'm inspired now to send an e-mail of support to Ruppert, and a little cash. I have been purchasing his books/DVDs for years now, and am awaiting the DVD of his last couple of public appearances, as mentioned in his writing.

Which brings me to the testy topic of : give up your cash! Some of it, anyway. Folks like Brad and Mike Ruppert put their asses on the line daily. Also, by the barrage of "help us" e-mails I've been receiving from truthout.org, it seems that they could use some funding too. Where is George Soros? I don't mean to be patronizing here, but I suspect the funding of the truth falls to the wayside now and again, and the enemy of truth is loaded with ways and means. Enough to buy almost an entire US Congress. It's hard to know who and how to split up your hard-earned dough when there are a number of worthy outlets, but BradBlog.com tops the list, along with Danny Schecter's Media Dissector, Ruppert's From the Wilderness, truthout.org and tompaine.com